ABUJA – (Federal Ministry of Science & Technology Report) – The Nigerian Government has inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Collapsed Buildings as part of its commitment to finding a permanent solution to the menace of collapse buildings in the country.
In his presentation at the inauguration ceremony held on Tuesday March 26, 2019 in Abuja, the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu averred that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to do everything that is humanly possible to stop building collapse because of its toll on human life.
The Minister recalled many painful stories of building collapse, noting that no parent ever wishes to have the dead body of his or her children. He insited that the Government is taking necessary steps to find permanent solutions to the recurring disaster. He also commended the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRI), an agency of the Ministry for its research and investigation which has helped to reduce the cases of collapsed buildings in the country.
According to him, it is important that every building collapse should be investigated because of the need to secure human life and protect the environment. He challenged the Committee to put the interest of the nation first in its assignment, indicating that the representatives of all regulatory agencies in the management of construction industries are in the Committee which has two weeks to submit its report.
In his remarks at the occasion, the Chairman of the Committee, who is the Acting Director-General/CEO of NBRRI, Samson Duna (Prof) noted that the impact of collapse buildings have affected the entire human fabrics. He also observed that it has caused psychological trauma, loss of lives and properties as well as loss of government revenue with victims being rendered homeless, apart from suffering permanent disabilities.
According to Samson Duna, most of the building collapse cases have been linked to man-made mistakes which can be avoided and eradicated completely. He inferred that there is urgent need to stop the ugly trend by investigating the root causes of the problems and making appropriate recommendations.
He promised that he will on behalf of the Committee and through the caliber of professionals in the Committee get to the root causes of the problems and proffer practical and implementable solutions that will go a long way to forestall future occurrence.
He thanked the Minister for impacting positively in the areas of Research and Development, particularly in the concern of Science, Innovation and Technology.
